Legal Question in Criminal Law in Pennsylvania

mistrial VS appeal

What would be the advantage of having an attorney ask for mistrial during the trial or near the end,as opposed to waiting until the trial is over( and a possible not guilty verdict), and filing an appeal on the disputed grounds? Thank You. J.M.H.


Asked on 11/12/04, 6:36 pm

1 Answer from Attorneys
Mark Johns Mark Johns, Esquire

Re: mistrial VS appeal

If the attorney does not feel good about the way a trial is going he may want to end it before it goes to the jury. If he feels good he may want it to go to jury verdict. Either way if a prosecutor commits error that requires a mistrial the defense attorney must make objection on the record to preserve the issue on appeal.

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Answered on 11/12/04, 8:07 pm


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